Method of forming a package



April 19, 1955 J. E. SNYDER METHOD OF FORMING A PACKAGE 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 1 Filed July 20, 1953 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

INVENTOR. JAMES E SNYDER .Z. ATTORNEY April 19, 1955 J. E. SNYDER METHOD OF FORMING A PACKAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 20, 1953 FIG. 8

FIG. 9

mmvroa. JAMES E. SNYVDER BY ATTORNEY FIG. 6

United States Patent 2,706,370 METHQD OF FORMING A PACKAGE James E. Snyder, Akron, Ohio, assiguor, by mesne assignments, to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a corporation of Ohio Application July 20, 1953, Serial No. 368,945 2 Claims. (Cl. 53-5) This invention relates to a new method of forming and filling a package.

A tube of wrapping material is brought over an annular support and folded back through the support. The wrapping material is gathered at the fold and fastened together. Then the fastened tube is fed through the support and a new fold is formed. This brings the fastening inside of the partially formed package and such fastenings will be referred to herein as internal fastenings. The material to be packaged is then fed into the portion of the tube that is held by the support, on top of the internal fastening, and the tube is then gathered over the packaged material at the new fold. A new internal fastening is formed at this new fold and the operation is repeated. Eventually, another fastening is made at each gathering, just above the packaged material. This is an external fastening. The packages are then severed between the ad jacent internal and external fastenings.

The method may be used for packaging solid materials such as candies, nuts, etc., including corrosive powders" and granular materials, and it may likewise be used for packaging viscous liquids, pastes, greases, etc. The one end of the package in which the fastening is internal is relatively flat when the package is supported on the bottom in a vertical position. The package readily stands upright on this end, particularly if the excess material from the internal fastening is cut short.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which a hollow cylindrical mandrel is used as the annular support. The tube may be formed around this mandrel, as illustrated, while the package is being formed above and within the mandrel.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates how the tube is brought up over the mandrel and the internal fastening is applied;

Fig. 2 is a view, partly broken away, showing the tube fed down through the mandrel, forming a new fold;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, but with the package contents inside of the partially formed package within the tube;

Fig. 4 shows how a new internal fastening is applied a; thfil new fold, over the contents which have been enc ose Fig. 5 illustrates how the tube is then fed further through the mandrel to produce a new package;

Fig. 6 illustrates the delivery of a series of connected packages from the mandrel, the attachment of the external fastenings, and the severing of the completed packages, one from another;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 9 illustrates one method of forming a tube on the mandrel.

In the apparatus shown in the drawings the tube T1 of wrapping material is brought up over the outside of the mandrel M and then folded and drawn down through the inside of the mandrel. The portion of the tube inside of the mandrel is designated by the reference numeral T2 to distinguish it from the portion of the tube outside of the mandrel.

The tube may be formed of rubber hydrochloride film, cellophane, polyethylene, a flexible paper stock, metal foil laminations, or any suitable wrapping material. The tube may be fabricated in the usual fashion. For example, as illustrated in Fig. 9, the film, as it is unrolled from the feed roll R1, may be wrapped around the mandrel M and sealed along the center at S by an adhesive, or heat may be used if the wrapping material is heat scalable.

The tube T1, however formed, is brought up over the outside of the mandrel M as illustrated in Fig. 1 and gathered together over the top of the mandrel to form the closure C1. In the drawings this closure is illustrated "ice as being formed by clamping a cylindrical metal clip tightly around the film. The film end E1 extends above the clip.

The tube is now drawn up over the outside of the mandrel and brought down inside to form the fold F around the top of the mandrel. Figure 2 shows why the fastening C1 is described as an internal fastening.

The material to be packaged P is introduced into the partially formed package of the tube T2 within the mandrel, as shown in Fig. 3. The film at the fold F is then gathered together, as illustrated in Fig. 4, and fastened with the clip C2 or with other mechanical fastening means, or by heat sealing. Any means for fastening the gathered film may be employed. This is another internal fastening, and starts the formation of the adjacent package P2 as illustrated in Fig. 5 where C2 is clearly shown as an internal fastening.

In the next step of the operation the package P1 is drawn down through the mandrel M until the material from which a new package is to be formed is in the same relation to the mandrel M as the tube T2 of Fig. 2. More of the material to be packaged is now fed into this new, but only partially formed package, which in Fig. 5 is designated P2, and the film at the fold F2 is gathered and a new closure is applied. This process is repeated indefinitely until the film is exhausted or for some other rea son it is necessary to discontinue the operation.

The packages are delivered from the bottom of the mandrel M connected in a continuous series (Fig. 6). The first package P1 is closed at the bottom by the clip C1. The clip C2 (Fig. 4, 5 and 6) is within the package P2. To complete the package P1 an additional clip C3, or other external fastening means, is applied to the film which is gathered together immediately below the bottom end of the package P2. The completed package P1 is then severed from the package P2. Usually, as one package is severed from the series another package is formed, but a large number of packages may be formed without severing and they may then all be severed at one time.

The package is relatively fiat on the bottom because the seal or festening C2 is internal. This is particularly so if the excess film designated W in Fig. 6 is cut very short. If, instead of an internal fastening, an external fastening were used, it would be next to impossible to stand the finished and filled package on its bottom. With the fastening inside, the bottom is relatively fiat and the package may be easily made to stand on end.

Different packaging materials may be employed and they may be fastened by metal clips tied with string or ribbon or secured by any other desired means. Instead of a mandrel the film may be folded over a mere hoop. The means over which the packaging material is folded will ordinarily be annular, although it may be oval or another shape. The invention is defined in the claims which follow.

What I claim is:

1. The method of forming a package which comprises bringing a tube of packaging material up a hollow forming support, gathering and fastening the tube above the hollow support, feeding the fastened portion of the tube down through the hollow of the support and forming a fold where the tube contacts the support, filling the por tion of the tube supported by the support with material to be packaged, gathering the material substantially at the fold and fastening it while folding it, then feeding the newly fastened portion of the tube down through the hollow support, fastening the package above the material to be packaged and repeating the operation.

2. In the process of packaging, the process of forming a tube over a hollow support, gathering the tube above the top of the support and fastening it, then feeding the fastened portion of the tube through the hollow support and again gathering the tube above the top of the support and fastening it.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,143,801 Bates June 22, 1915 1,775,347 Hirschhorn Sept. 9, 1930 2,328,018 Irmscher Aug. 31, 1943 

